Excessive weight gain during pregnancy has long-term consequences for a woman’s weight. According to a US study, even several years after giving birth, women still weigh more and also have higher body fat levels. The study was published in the “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition”.

Researchers at Columbia University in New York examined data from 302 African-American and Dominican women enrolled in the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health Mothers and Newborns Study from 1998 to 2013. Prior to pregnancy, five per cent were underweight, 53 per cent had normal weight, 20 per cent were overweight and 22 per cent were obese.

Almost two thirds (64 per cent) of the women gained more weight than recommended by official guidelines. Seven years after pregnancy, 38 per cent of the participants were obese. Among women who were not obese before pregnancy, those with excessive weight gain had a four times higher risk of being obese seven years after delivery.

The effect seems to be particularly pronounced in women with normal weight before giving birth. In these women, excessive pregnancy weight gain was associated with significantly greater body weight and higher body fat seven years after delivery. “The findings also suggest that normal and modestly overweight women may be more physiologically sensitive to effects of high gestational weight gain and, therefore need to be further supported to gain weight appropriately during pregnancy,” said study author Elisabeth Widen.

French scientists examined the differences of stroke incident in young marijuana users and non-users. According to a study published in the “Journal of the American College of Cardiology”, the underlying cause of stroke in marijuana users usually differs from that of non-users. Previous studies had already found an association between marijuana use and an increased risk of stroke.

Scientists from the University of Strasbourg analysed data from all patients under the age of 45 treated for ischaemic stroke at the University Hospital of Strasbourg between 2005 and 2014. The cohort included 334 patients of which 58 were marijuana users. They were more likely to be younger and male, to smoke and to have other lifestyle risk factors.

Findings showed that, in marijuana users, stroke is often caused by intracranial arterial stenosis. This type of stenosis was found in 45 per cent of the marijuana group, but only in 14 per cent of the non-users. Non-users were more likely to have cardio embolism: this type of embolism was diagnosed in 29 per cent of non-users, but only in 14 per cent of marijuana users.

For a long time, even long-term effects of cannabis were considered to be harmless, but there is now increasing evidence of higher cannabis-use-related stroke risk. “The first step may be to inform the public regarding the potential occurrence of stroke associated with cannabis and other lifestyle risk factors,” said study leader Valerie Wolff.

Young women are less likely than men to be informed about their risk of possibly having a heart attack and about preventative therapy. This is the result of a study carried out by US scientists published in the “Journal of the American College of Cardiology”.

Researchers from Yale University in New Haven (Connecticut) analysed data from the VIRGO study (Variation in Recovery: Role of Gender and Outcomes of Young AMI Patients). The data included medical records and surveys from 3,501 heart attack patients under the age of 55 (2,349 women, 1,152 men), treated in 100 hospitals in the USA and Spain between 2008 and 2012.

At least one modifiable risk factor (high cholesterol level, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, smoking) was found in 97 per cent of women and in 99 per cent of men; two thirds had at least three risk factors. The most common factor was high cholesterol. With the exception of smoking, all risk factors were more prevalent in the USA than in Spain.

Prior to their heart attack, about half of the US patients reported being aware of being at risk or had talked to a doctor about ways to reduce the danger. Among the Spanish participants, only 36 per cent had been informed about their risk and only 22 per cent reported talking to a doctor.

Broken down by gender, the study showed that women were 11 per cent less likely than men of being informed of their elevated risk. Talking to a doctor about preventative therapy was 16 per cent less likely when compared with men.

“Young women cannot afford to continually be less informed than men about their risk of heart disease,” emphasised study author Erica Leifheit-Limson. Women as well as their physicians often underestimate the risk. She urged an improvement of information for young female patients. “It should be a priority for healthcare providers to address basic risk factors and prevention with patients at risk.”